Rae Sremmurd & Mike WiLL Made-It on 'Black Beatles' Topping the Hot 100: 'The World Is Ready for Us' (Exclusive)

As previously reported, Rae Sremmurd rockets from No. 9 to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Nov. 26) with "Black Beatles," featuring Gucci Mane, marking the first Hot 100 leader for both acts. It's also the first No. 1 on the list first for the song's producer and co-writer, Mike WiLL Made-It (who, among three prior top 10s, had risen as high as No. 2 in 2013 thanks to Miley Cyrus' "We Can't Stop").

Upon hearing of their Hot 100 coronation, the members of Rae Sremmurd - brothers Khalif "Swae Lee" Brown and Aaquil "Slim Jxmmi" Brown - and collaborator Mike WiLL Made-It share their excitement about the achievement and their gratitude for their fans with Billboard.

"You do what you want in this world, and people either love you or hate you for it," says Swae Lee. "Thanks to everyone that stands behind us."

Adds Mike WiLL Made-It, "To be able to put Gucci Mane, the person that gave me my first opportunity in music, and Rae Sremmurd, the debut artist from my [imprint, Eardrummer; Rae Sremmurd's name is a reversal of "drummer's ear"], on what's both [Rae Sremmurd and Gucci Mane's] biggest record ever, and the first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 for both, is something I could have never imagined or dreamed of. I couldn't have asked for a better moment to be a part of."

Helping "Beatles" vault to No. 1 on the Hot 100 has been its usage in videos driving the viral Mannequin Challenge. Mike WiLL Made-It says the craze, even though it involves participants not moving a muscle, reminds him of now relatively old-school dances that helped spark past hits: "I haven't seen anything like the Mannequin Challenge since [Soulja Boy Tell'Em's 2007 seven-week No. 1] 'Crank That (Soulja Boy)' or [Los Del Rio's 1996 14-week No. 1] 'Macarena.'"

"'Black Beatles' is the best song I have produced so far in my career," Mike WiLL Made-It marvels. "The way it came together couldn't have been more natural, and it's amazing to see people feel the same way, and gravitate to the record so naturally. For 'Black Beatles' to be so true to us and our sound - we weren't chasing a sound - it solidifies that the world is ready for us and what we have to come."